Saturday, October 8, 2016

DX9 Mightron - Megatron

For those who missed out on Masterpiece Megatron and X-Transbots Apollyon, Maketoys Despotron and now DX9 Mightron are both good options for a Masterpiece-style Megatron. None of these figures are without flaws, but I think they can mostly be overlooked or dealt with easily. It's great to have so many options.

Instead of a stupid orange plug, Mightron comes with orange tape over a transparent purple plug that simply falls off once the tape is removed.

I like Mightron's gun mode a lot. It is remarkably clean and free of holes. If only I could get that barrel connected. The stock is much cleaner than Despotron, with far fewer panel lines. The hammer and safety switch are merely decorative. The trigger has a nice spring mechanism, but it doesn't give a clicking response at the end of the pull. Whoever next gives us a Megatron should consider making it a functional cap gun. The scope functions as a very wide laser sight so don't forget to remove the batteries at some point. Fortunately, they are easy to access. The scope itself does not easily detach from the gun because of a tab right in front of the sliding mechanism. The stock feels to be a better fit for my hands than Despotron, but of course your mileage may vary. Although the robot parts are mostly well-hidden, you can still see his feet at the bottom of the stock. There seems to be a spot for a shoulder stock attachment, but one is not included in the box.

The overall transformation to gun mode is not any easier or harder than Despotron, but I couldn't figure out how to get the arms to connect with the chest to form the barrel. They kept popping out of place. I do love the transformation mechanic of the arms and legs; how they change shape with a squeeze. The process of transforming reveals some internal Die-cast parts. Make sure to attach the scope before squeezing the two halves of the arms together; I don't think you can attach it later because of that ill-placed tab. Mightron is a rare example where going back to robot mode seems to be more difficult because all the ports are held together very tightly. The gun barrel, in particular, was a bear to untab. I also had trouble extending his arms and could not pull down his side abs.

I like his head sculpt quite a bit more than Despotron, but not as much as Apollyon. Mightron's legs are much cleaner than Apollyon's, but his thighs don't transition smoothly to his lower legs. Strangely, he actually has a backpack, but his gun barrel stays in place and upright far better than the barrels on the other figures. The right side of his back is simply missing. I suppose the barrel is supposed to hide that hole. He also has no lats. At least he doesn't suffer from Despotron's loose knee or Apollyon's constant dismemberment syndrome. He has additional panels that slide down to give more bulk to his waist, but I had trouble pulling them back out. The paint application and line work are done well. He doesn't have that not-quite-Masterpiece look of the other DX9 figures like Carry, Chigurh, and Gewalt. In that respect, he's closer to their own Tyrant in styling but seems to lack Tyrant's polish.

His head is on a hinge and swivel. His shoulders are on hinges with ratcheted swivels. He swivels at the elbows, wrists, waist, and thighs. He has double-jointed elbows and single-jointed, ratcheted knees. Except for his thumbs, his fingers are single-pinned. All his fingers have a second, pinned knuckle. His thumbs and pointing fingers articulate separately from the remaining three. His hips are on ratcheted universals. The ratchets on his thighs are spaced far apart so his first A-stance is spread pretty wide. It can be difficult to stand him straight at attention. He tends to fall to his right because the die-cast barrel of his gun is not balanced by anything on his left side. His feet are on rockers and tilts.

His accessories include a sword, a handle, a morning star, and an extra face. The sword has a transparent plastic blade with metallic silver paint. It uses a Masterpiece-style tab that works very well. The sword can join with the extra handle to form a pole arm. The blade can also split apart to make some sort of scythe-like weapon. I don't remember any version of this blade from the series. It doesn't look like the one from The Movie either. I think I'm going to give it to FansProject Sigma L; save me a purchase of Dr Wu's Soul Eater scythe. The morning star is also transparent plastic. Its size and length is more modest than the one found with Despotron. It tabs into a slot revealed when you fold away his right hand. The extra face is an angry face.

Apollyon is still safe on my Masterpiece shelf. I just need him to stand there and look like Megatron, which he accomplishes quite well. His face sculpt is my favorite amongst the three options and I can tolerate the kibble on his legs. My favorite as a toy would be Despotron, mainly because Apollyon's arms are always falling off and a little due to new toy syndrome. Mightron will occupy the shelf where I've started keeping DX9, Unique Toys, and Toyworld figures for being Masterpiece scaled, but not quite Masterpiece styled. Mightron is a fun figure, as most DX9 figures are. I'm still looking forward to whatever they put out next.